my harry potter school

my harry potter school

McGill

McGill is a beautiful school. It's the study-abroad-dream come true. The campus is gorgeous, with European architecture, which I absolutely adore. It's one of those campuses that you see on brochures and go like "OMG I wanna study in that castle everydaaaay! And roll on the lawn in summer!" Yes, that how I feel! I love the Arts building with its ancient walkways and huge doors and dim lights. (I lost my pictures but I will take somemore soon, I promise!) I perpetually feel like Harry Potter is going to walk out of one of the classrooms and fly off on his broomstick.

The people in school are pretty cool, even though I didn't get Harry Potter for my classmate. And they are really vocal. It's true, angmohs like to raise their opinions in class, and everyone can't wait to talk. I suppose people are more tolerant with differences in views and such, so that you hardly feel awkward raising your point. But that also means that you have to sit and bear with the rubbish people tend to utter sometimes. Haha. Me? I say something once in awhile when I feel that I'm about to burst with my point of view, but usually I'm busy surfing Facebook or talking on MSN or something. Hee, hey I'm on exchange!

Oh, and the other thing they say about angmohs - that they don't really study? That is SO untrue. People here take their studying so seriously! Everyone has bought and/or read their texts even in the first week. I had no clue! Oh, and the readings here are like twice of that of Singapore's. But readings are all you have. Most of the professors have no concept of lecture notes, so you just go into lectures with a blank piece of paper and start copying whatever the lecture says. It's crazy! I bring my laptop everywhere cos I think all my pens will run out of ink by Feb at this rate. Oh, and paper is so expensive.

Having been an NUS kid for 3 semesters, I feel pampered and sheltered and I totally miss the ready availability of lecture notes. And webcasts. And cheap printing. So surprisingly, exchange makes me appreciate good old NUS a little more! I bet this was their ulterior motive all along. Show off their efficiency. Heh. Haha.

So, given all that, I've been trying very hard to go school as often as possible, but the 830am classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are impossible sometimes. Seriously, it's a 10min trek up the foot of Mont. Royal for a 50min lecture, and yes the lecturer is cute, but somehow I always feel conned when I attend the class. Heck, and he's the ONLY one with lecture notes uploaded! Of course the NUS kid in me has been making full use of the IVLE-equivalent here. :D

And now, final verdict and the best advice I have for you: when going on exchange, pick a great city, a lovely campus and a pangsai school! Studying in the world's 18th best university is not the epitome of "partying your brains out on exchange". (Which will be the next blogging topic btw!)

And just in case you thought the previous picture was taken off somewhere, here's one of me walking to my Harry Potter school!

long-haul, indeed

long-haul, indeed

Have you ever sent someone off at the airport and picked her up at the arrival hall within the same hour? I bet you haven't. But thanks to me, my friends have that very extraordinary experience.

So this is what happened. I missed my flight to Montreal. Not the connecting one, uh-uh, but the very first one from Singapore.

How did it happen? Oh, I have no idea. I supposed I went in 5 minutes before the boarding gates closed, waited for the last call that didn't happen, and tried to do some shopping in the mean time. Tried, because I didn't manage to buy my moisturizer cos mine wasn't a direct flight.

And so, by the time I reached the boarding gates, it was 7.06am. I was 6 minutes late, and found a man in a sinister black suit awaiting me. The MIB spoke into his walkie talkie, and I heard "Passenger not boarding." I first went ballistic WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOT BOARDING CAN'T YOU SEE I'M HERE?! Then I went hysterical NO I CANNOT MISS THIS FLIGHT ARE YOU CRAZY THE PLANE IS SITTING THERE ARE YOU BLIND??

Then, I started to cry. Yes right, very mature. I squatted down in the middle of the hall and started crying in front of everyone. My Mom called to check if I was the plane yet, and all I could do was blabber incoherently while she tries to yell at the MIB through the phone.

Okay, go ahead and be totally unsympathetic and laugh. Because hindsight, it was quite funny.

So anyway, they brought me to some person who could secure me another ticket on the next plane out, and then someone accompanied me to go through all the customs, and in the mess, all I can remember is this voice telling me "Don't worry, Miss, we're just escorting you back to Singapore."

In my mind, I just kept thinking "Wtf I didn't even leave the damn country and that is the problem, you need to shut UP." I sure hope I wasn't thinking out loud.

So they took me to collect my luggage (once again, notice they had time to unload my luggage but apparently didn't find time to do the last call thing, as in, PAGING FOR MS. LIU MENGQI, LAST CALL TO BOARD. Nope, didn't happen.) and "sent me back to Singapore", where dear Shan and Shena and my very worried parents were waiting.

And that's how they managed to have the phenomenal and once in a lifetime (I hope) experience of picking someone they just sent off. Friends who were on their way back home to sleep or to work thought I was kidding. Glenn, was well, let's say he was astounded when my Mom called him.

Thereafter, Shan and Shena trudged back to Golden Mile with me in the sweltering heat (in my heavy sweater and boots) to collect my ticket AGAIN. Thank God for these friends.

So that same night, I went over to spend some time at Glenn's place, since he couldn't send me off a SECOND time considering his own flight was the next evening. When his sisters and cousin came home one by one, they were all equally shocked to find me there, when I was supposed to be somewhere up in the clouds on that plane. Throughout the night, I retold my story about 4 times. Haha. And goodbye a second time that night wasn't any easier, it turned out.

When I finally caught ALL my flights (2 stopovers and I had to run from one terminal to the other in Chicago), my luggage didn't catch the last connecting flight. So when I arrived in Montreal, I was greeted with the lovely surprise that my luggage was still sitting in Chicago!

Just to let you know how screwed up United Airlines is, I overheard the luggage counter staff fretting over what do with a luggage that arrived in Montreal, Canada, while the passenger was bound for Montreal, Spain (or some other Montreal, I can't remember). The said passenger NEVER set foot in Canada. Haha!

It took a grand total of 3 DAYS for my luggage to arrive. I practically screwed United Airlines upside down on the phone. Oh and by the way, I'm getting pretty good at doing complaints through phone and emails. You're welcome to ask me for rates to write a 10 page long complaint letter. I take 10 minutes to accomplish that now.

And so, here I am, finally settled in Montreal for about 2 weeks now. I thought the 28hour flight defined long-haul, but hell no, my journey (and even more so, my luggage's as well) just redefined what's a long-haul flight.

best memory: december

best memory: december

First hours of Christmas: nestled in bed, Moscato in hand, snuggled against you, and tears on my cheeks. I couldn't stop crying. And you just held me. Then the kisses. It's always the kisses that I miss the most. This Christmas will be enough to take us through the 4 months. We'll live, my love, we'll live.

phuket stories - the locals

phuket stories - the locals

With one of the local guides on the ferry back from our day trip.

The perks of traveling in a pair (especially with another girlfriend), I realised yet again, is that it opens up many possibilities of friendships and short chats on the trip. People are more likely to talk to you, be it tourists or locals. Of course, once in a while, bored local men try to get your attention on the streets, but most of the people we met were really friendly and interesting.

On one of the guided tours, we started talking quite abit with a few of our tour guides. Usual holidayish things aside, I had a glimpse into the lives of these tour guides away from their jobs. Most of them are around our age, either having finish education equivalent of polytechnic or are pursuing part-time degrees. As cliched as it sounds, I saw the dreams of these local boys, who are experienced yet innocent, younger yet older than us at the same time.

One of them had to stop university because he had to start contributing to his family income. So he started working as a tour guide and pursues his degree on his off-days. Local universities have that kinda arrangement. He wants to be a musician. He has been to Hong Kong and wants to save enough money to see the world. He wanted to exchange emails with me to keep in touch. (Sadly, I couldn't get through the address he gave me.)

I was touched. By their simplicity, aspirations and determination. It makes me think if we've been taking our country, our moderate wealth, our education system and even the world with the ease of travel for granted. I guess Sociology of Tourism did have an effect on Sarah and I! Haha.

So, that's just one of the things that left me thinking after my Phuket trip, and something I'd like to share and remember.

Here's to dreams, no matter where or who you are.

grey heels

grey heels

New grey heels, semi-fierce.

So the other day, I was surfing the Net and came across the Sartorialist. I saw the picture below, and decided that I MUST have grey pair of shoes in the semi-fierce style before it goes out of style! It's the season's must-have's!

Must. Have. Grey. Heels.

So when I walked past Charles & Keith after the appointment with the dermatologist, I walked in and decided, if they have a pair of grey heels in the style I'm looking for, I'll buy them, no second thoughts! (Okay fine, I didn't walk past C&K. I made a huge detour.) But there they were! The shoes that I've been looking for!

I came home, hopped over to the Sartorialist again, saw another picture, and decided that I made an excellent buy! :D Grey heels are the new must-haves. Go get yours today everyone! Hahaha. I really love my shoes!

Right choice!

And this is how I wore mine. Paired with a princessy dress for Shan's 21st birthday party. I apologize for the bad picture quality, but I was running late! Haha. Can't wait to wear them out again!

happy food

happy food

Half of my happy dinner. :D

School has been REALLY crazy and I've been staying till late most evenings of the week to do my work. And the one thing I dislike about staying in school is the lack of good food, especially for dinner. The sad part is, even if I get out of school at 10pm (that's when the library closes) for a late dinner or early supper, most of the stalls at Clementi Hawker Centre are closed.

I've also been having impossible cravings for the duck rice there, but we kept missing the stall because we left too late. As if that wasn't bad enough, one day, just as I decided to settle for nice, cold dessert and satay instead, I watched the dessert store close just as I was walking towards it! Wails.

THEN. One rainy evening, we decided to leave at 7pm for a decent dinner! And voila! Duck rice stall, dessert stall, drinks stall... everything's open! I was SO happy. :D

ten dollar skirt

ten dollar skirt

I threw on a jacket from Bonitochico for cold classrooms and LTs.

When I was heading home the other day, I walked past a push-cart store and saw this cute high-waisted floral skirt waving at me! Upon asking for the price, I was absolutely thrilled to find that it's only 10bucks! Of course I bought it without so much as a blink and wore it to school the next chance I got.

I paired it with a simple black spaghetti top and my favourite comfy red wedges. Not the ones in the picture. I won't be able to survive a 12hr day in those. YET. And I figured dressing nicely for school makes my day. Pretty clothes make a happy girl!

a breather, finally

a breather, finally




It's that time of the semester again, when assignments and mid-terms pile up in attempt to compete with Mt. Everest. And congratulations profs of NUS, we're actually winning. I have 7 assignments and 1 project spread over 4 modules this semester. Je pense que NUS est devenu fou.

Anyway, the university declared this week e-learning week, meaning all lectures (sauf français) will be webcasted. I secretly think it's put in place because too many students are threatening to kill themselves or stab their professors due to the overwhelming workload. Recess week was one big farce by the way.

With all the assignments due within a week of each other, I was an assignment machine. I hate rushing assignments. Unlike readings, they can't be done when you're half asleep. And I'm definitely not one of those people who can plan to finish planning in 1 hr, write the paper in 2 hrs and actually do it. There comes a point where I just can't think of anything anymore. I'll need sleep and a change of environment.

Southeast Asian assignment saw me awake at 3am in the morning, squinting at the laptop (font size 20 and screen size 200% because I forgot my specs) at Zuojin's hall. Then Lit assignment saw me staying up until 5am one morning nestled at my desk, listening to the world wake up. And finally, Soci assignment saw me running away from the laptop to my bed at 2hr intervals for the whole of yesterday. In the end, I gave up at 2am, woke up at 6am, worked on it for an hour or so, then I ran over to Glenn's place so I'll have my favourite boy and favourite dog cheer me up before writing my conclusion. And that's the picture you see.

Alors, what's the point of this post? Rien. I only wanted to announce that I AM DONE WITH ALL MY ASSIGNMENTS (for the time being at least). :D

phuket stories - daredevils

phuket stories - daredevils

This is the only lousy photo I've got.

It's a stillshot from a video that we took while riding in the park with no traffic!

So here’s the craziest thing I did in Phuket – I rode a scooter without a license. And Sarah was my pillion. I have never been on a bike before, and the only two-wheeled thing I’ve operated is a bicycle. I don’t know what kind of guts I had, but yeah, I did that. Hahaha.

Actually, we kind of got tired of being ripped off on transport, and it just didn’t make sense to rent a car on the last day because they couldn’t make arrangements for us to return it at the airport. After talking to other tourists who persuaded us that riding a bike is the easiest thing in the world, we decided to rent a scooter for 200baht. Which is less than 10bucks in Singapore dollars. A one-way 15min tutuk or cab ride costs like 300baht, no second price.

So after we got the scooter opposite our hotel, we took turns to try it in the carpark. We agreed whoever who turns out less dangerous would ride the bike, and the other one would be pillion. Sarah fell off the bike after 3metres. Hahaha. So I guess that made me the less dangerous one. After 2 rounds around the carpark, trying to find my balance with Sarah on the back of the scooter, I told her “I don’t care if you’re ready or not. We’re going out on to the road now. LET’S GO!”

And there we were. Two crazy girls wobbling on a scooter, attracting wide-eyed stares because we were probably screaming “Road Hazard”. Hahaha.

Then the next day, we decided to take the scooter out and explore more of Phuket. We tried to find Phuket Town from Karon Beach. Without a map. All I had was a rough idea from Google Earth and one remote road sign every few miles.

It started raining, and the roads got crazy. There were huge slopes and sharp turns and medium traffic. At one point of time, I had to make a huge right turn up a steep slope. Should I not make the turn and accelerate straight ahead, we would end up in a ditch, because they were having road works. I think I made the turn by 1 inch, with my knee almost scraping the ground from the turn. The whole time I was thinking, “Tilt your body, don’t use your hands. Tilt your body, don’t use your hands!”

All of you who gave me advice on how to ride a bike on Facebook that night, you probably saved our lives.

So we survived the slopes and the rain and U-turns (during which Sarah asked, “Are you confident?” And I said, “No.” Then I made the turn with her screaming behind me. Hahaha), But naturally, we had to have an accident. Guess where? When we were trying to park the scooter.

I forgot to switch off the engine after I slotted the scooter into the lot, and while trying to pull it back a little, I PULLED THE ACCELERATOR AND THE THING LURCHED FORWARD LIKE MAD! Hahaha. Sarah had to reach forward to press the brake for me, but we still fell onto the wet ground. Her on the bum, and me on the boobs for some reason! So I had a wet patch on my boob for a while. Shit.

Thinking back, I think we were impossibly gusty, and if you asked me if I’d do it a second time, I might not. Haha. So I guess it’s true, you’re only young and crazy once.

goodbye, hippo

goodbye, hippo

About 4 weeks ago, I discovered a tiny bump on Hippo’s nose that looked like a start of a pimple. Worried, I brought her to the vet. She was prescribed anti-biotics, which I had to coax/force-feed her every night.

A week later, there was no improvement, and the bump had grown bigger. Glenn, being very sweet, brought Hippo to the vet for me, because I had a busy week. The vet managed to extract some pus, and gave her a stronger dosage of anti-biotic and some vitamins. The poor little thing looked very upset after having her nose squeezed and poked at.

Still, the bump kept growing. The last visit to the vet saw a non-invasive operation to determine the nature of the lump, and I was told it wasn’t a pus sac. Instead, it’s a solid tumour, probably cancerous. Nothing could be done.

Over the weeks, I saw less of Hippo’s usual antics of digging around her wood waste, scurrying around the cage or running on her wheels. Slowly, she stopped eating and I fed by hand every night. It broke my heart.

I thought of putting her to sleep towards the end, but I decided not to. I didn’t want to play God. What if she didn’t understand? What if she was simply fighting to draw her last breath? So I told myself, when it’s time, God will take her. Until he does, Hippo shall have her favourites till the end. Then he did.

Hippo was my first pet in a long, long time. She was the smartest and the cutest hamster I’ve ever had. She’s a funny, greedy and friendly little thing. She’s taught me a few things about life, and I think I’ll always remember. So here’s to you, little creature.

I remember when I first got you, a small little ball of fur, hiding in a corner of your cage, shy. I remember playing with you with taped fingers, because you were young and feisty and you bit. I remember you learning to tear up the newspaper to line your little hut before I bought wood waste for you. I remember showing you off to my hall mates, and how you spat out all your food because you got scared from the noise and touches. I remember you peeing on my hand.

Then I remember you in your braver, grown-up days. I remember lugging you to hall every week, afraid you might get motion sickness from the journey. I remember when you got too fat for your wheel. I remember you teetering at the edge of my laundry basket, earnestly trying to run away while a big, buff boy (which would be Glenn) struggled to catch you. I remember bringing you out of my room every night because you made so much noise with the wheel we couldn’t fall asleep. I remember you running along the corners of the living room, surprising everyone with your surprised look. I remember your excitement each time I clean out your cage and put in new wood waste. I remember your favourite sunflower seeds and your dislike for banana. I remember the photo of you, looking alert and full of mischief, with the yoghurt right beneath your nose.

Finally, I remember you in your last days. I remember wrestling with you with a broken hand just to feed you your medicine. I remember how you always go into your sand-bath tub when you got upset with the medicine left on your nose. I remember holding the watermelon bits for you so that you could eat. I remember cradling you in my hand for the last time, knowing it was about time. And it was.

You taught me that hamsters are not supposed to bathe in water and that Science isn’t magic. Initially, I expected the vet to have a foolproof cure for you each time we visited. You taught me that death is a part of life. I’ve been sheltered for most of my life, and have been fortunate enough to have never faced death. I was terrified of you dying, but slowly, I learnt to let go.

All I hope is that I’ve been a decent owner, and made your life happy, because you’ve definitely brought joy into mine. I’ve left you in a place where the morning sun will shine each day. Rest in peace, little Hippo.

Je n’ai pensé jaimais que je t’aimerais comme ça. J’ai appris de toi que Dieu a créé l’amour le même pour tous les choses. Il n’y a pas beaucoup de différence entre les humains et les animaux, vraiment. Je t’aimais, ma petite créature.